Daily Pioneer News

PLATTEVILLE - University of Wisconsin-Platteville students are working in conjunction with Kim Marinelli and Bill Miller of Durrant Engineering of Dubuque, Iowa, to design a steel frame facility for Dick's Supermarket. The building, 28 feet in height, will house a new bakery and deli area for Dick's.

Senior design students Gretchen Barlow, Debbie Budworth, and Jonathan Vogt have been assigned to the project. Aside from a wind force resistant structure, the building must be economically feasible, coincide with the existing foundation, and utilize the existing floor plan and building dimensions. The client has requested a complete steel structure from columns, beams, and trusses, to the roof.

The senior design students are working through the actual process of designing beams and columns. They have also tried to pick the best roof decking based on shape, costs, and weight, as well as worked with different foundation models and the wind resistance system.

The major challenge for this team of developing engineers is trying to "design while meeting all the codes, regulations, and conditions for manufacturing a bakery and deli and figuring out which codes apply where," said Vogt. They must compare the International Building Codes (IBC), against Wisconsin building codes, against the American Society of Civil Engineering codes (ASCE), which can quickly become confusing and complex.

Another challenge the team faced was calculating the loads for each of the 42 columns in their design. "Usually we are given the load numbers, but using the codes, we had to decide between the different options which was correct, and use those numbers to do the math," said Budworth.

Added Barlow, "We also have to work with two different foundation designs, a deep and a shallow design. In class, we don't have to worry about these different components because we only use one at a time. We've never had to design a complete system. The senior design class and this project have really helped us see the entire basic design process from start to finish."

After the process is finished, the group will present a design and cost estimate with schematics of the foundation and an overall recommendation to their client.

Particularly helpful to the students have been their foundation classes and steel design and structures classes, as well as civil engineering professors, Dr. Matt Roberts and Dr. Christina Curras. Roberts' specialty is steel and structures, whereas Curras' specialty is geotechnical.

"Both professors, as well as many others have helped answer as many questions as we can ask. Dr. Roberts helped with the initial load calculations, and Dr. Curras has been an excellent guide on the foundation and structural components for this project," said Budworth.

Vogt is a civil engineering major with emphases on structure, transportation, and construction from Howards Grove. Following his May graduation he will be employed at Kapur & Associates as a staff engineer.

Budworth is a civil engineering major with emphases on structure and geotechnical from Dickeyville. After graduation this spring she will be working at Eagle Point Software as a civil engineering technical consultant.

Barlow is a civil engineering major with emphases on transportation and structures from Soldiers Grove.